School Riot
by starsparkle69
Summary: At Marvel High, Loki gets on Darcy's bad list, and she vows revenge. But as she attempts to embarrass him in return, she finds he is more than she first thought, and she must rethink her feelings about him. Darcy/Loki, minor Darcy/Steve, other pairings with Avengers characters
1. Chapter 1

A/N: This is my first story, I hope you like it! Please R&R, I would really appreciate it! :)

I know it's really short, but the other chapters should be longer.

Chapter 1

Darcy Lewis was the hottest girl in the school. She knew she was - everyone said so. There was even an article about it in the school newspaper.

Every morning she went through a routine. She made sure her hair was perfectly curled, her make-up impeccably applied, and that her outfit was just within school rules. Sure, Jane insisted it was shallow of her, but Darcy liked the attention the boys gave her.

She flaunted what she had, and they looked. It was all she cared about.

However, there was one boy who would never look her way. Loki Odinson was an obnoxious brat, though. Jane always said so, and she was dating his brother. Thor doted on him, though, and if Darcy started putting Loki down, even just to Jane, it made Jane uncomfortable. It was a god awful double standard, but whatever, Darcy wasn't going to dwell on it.

One day in chem class, though, Loki finally noticed her. But it wasn't in a good way.

Darcy was at her table doing an experiment with Bruce Banner. Well, Bruce was the one doing all the work, he liked doing that kind of thing, after all, which was why she let him do all the work.

But something was clearly distracting him today. Later, Darcy would guess it was Tony Stark. She was 90 percent sure Bruce was gay, and even if he wasn't, Tony Stark distracted everyone; he was that kind of guy, the one who had to be in the center of it all.

But whatever was the cause, Bruce knocked the smelly solution all over Darcy.

"Sorry!" he said, trying to clean it up with flimsy paper towels. He swiped at her chest, and he was so lucky that he was probably gay.

"Just get off," she said, pushing Bruce away. She took the paper towels and tried to mop it up. Ugh, it was making her clothes stick to her skin, and god, the smell!

She heard someone chuckling, and she glanced up to see Loki Odinson snickering.

She would have said something right there. She would have yelled at him to shut up. But Mr. Ross cut in, telling her she could go to the nurse's office for a change of shirt.

The rest of the class was silent as she left, but she could still hear Loki snickering as she walked out the door.

The next day, Darcy checked herself in the mirror. Perfect. When she arrived at school, she was ready for another day of the guys secretly admiring her.

But what she got instead was Loki Odinson cutting across her path and saying with a smirk, "Liked your perfume yesterday. You should wear it more often." And then he laughed to himself and continued down the hall.

Oh, that did it. Loki Odinson had just made the top of Darcy's Revenge List. He was going down.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Here's chapter two, I hope you like it! Please R&R! Just Jane and Darcy in this one.

Chapter 2

When someone got on Darcy's Revenge List, they always got what was coming to them. There had been that time when she was four, and Scott Summers had pushed her off the swings. She had kicked dirt in his eyes, satisfying her need for revenge. She'd been grounded for it, and now, she wouldn't do anything so violent.

But she always settled her debts.

"So, Jane, what do you know about Loki?" Darcy asked during lunch. She picked up her thermos and slurped up her ramen noodles.

Jane looked like Darcy had just screeched like a hawk. "Excuse me?" she said. She bookmarked her place in her astronomy textbook. That was Jane. Always studying, unless Thor was around. "Why do you want to know about Loki of all people?"

Darcy shrugged. If she told Jane, Jane would give her an earful. "Just because."

Jane stared at her more. "Oh my god," she said, shaking her head. "I cannot believe this."

"Believe what?"

"You have a crush on him, don't you?"

Darcy almost dropped her thermos. "What?" she cried. Embarrassed that someone might have heard her, she dropped her voice. "What?" she said again. "You can't... I'm not..."

The idea was ridiculous. There was no way she liked Loki Odinson. The guy was an ass. She shuddered.

"I am going to pretend you didn't say that, Jane."

Jane shrugged. "Fine, but why else do you suddenly care about Loki?"

Annoyed, Darcy leaned back in her chair, arms crossed. "Come on, Jane, you always say it yourself, he's a dick."

Jane shook her head and said, "Brat, I say he's a brat." She glanced around as if Thor might be in hearing range. Thankfully, he and his jock buddies had a team meeting, so they weren't around. Darcy really liked Thor, and she liked the other guys on the football team fine, but because Thor was dating Jane, he sat with them, and then all the football guys followed Thor.

Sometimes, Darcy just didn't want to be surrounding by giant, sweaty boys.

Steve Rogers was okay, though. He always smiled at her and tried really, really hard not to look at her chest, which was sweet. A little creepy, because he had to try really hard, but sweet.

But Steve Rogers's not-fascination with her breasts aside, it didn't matter if Loki was a dick or a brat, he was still going down.

"He's on my Revenge List," Darcy said.

Jane looked ill at the thought. She said, "I thought we talked about this. I thought you were going to stop with that whole thing."

Darcy laughed. As if. "No, no," she said, putting her hands on Jane's shoulders. "He has to go down."

"What did he do?"

"Does it matter?" Darcy threw her hands up dramatically. "Does it really matter what he did? He's on there, and he's going down."

Jane glared at Darcy, and damn, she shouldn't have told her anything. "Don't," she said. "Your revenge list is mean, Darcy, and nothing good ever comes out of it."

Jane, as always, was overreacting. Lots of good things came out of Darcy's revenge list. Sure, a lot of people didn't like it for it (but they weren't good people, since they'd ended up on the list in the first place), and she had gotten sent to detention a number of times for it.

But she wasn't going too do anything too terrible to Loki. Well, nothing that would actually hurt him.

But boy, would he be the laughing stock of the school when she was through.

She hadn't figured out the details yet. There were so many possibilities, and what she did had to be just right. If it wasn't, then her revenge wouldn't be completed, and the whole thing would be a waste.

So Darcy shrugged and said, "You're right, Jane, I shouldn't. It is mean."

Jane looked relieved at that and went back to her book. But Darcy smirked to herself once Jane was occupied. Yeah, right, Loki was going to go down.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Next chapter! If you didn't notice, I put a couple pairings in the summary. There will be lots of pairings in this story, though, like Bruce/Tony and Clint/Natasha. They'll each get their own little focus!

It'd be great if you R&R! Thank you! :)

TT

Chapter 3

Of course, wanting revenge and then actually going through with it were two different things. Darcy had to put her planning on hold when the teacher announced an exam at the end of the week in American History.

Loki was in her American History class. He sat on the other side of the room, in the same row, and through half the class, she kept glancing his way. Somehow, she was going to get back at him. Somehow, she was going to make sure he got what he deserved.

Steve, who sat next to her, asked in a quiet whisper, "Are you okay?"

Embarrassed to be caught, Darcy blushed as she replied, "No, nothing." At least for once Steve didn't have any trouble keeping his eyes on her face.

Then the teacher told them about the exam.

"That's not fair, Mr. Coulson," Steve complained. When Mr. Coulson turned his eyes on Steve, Steve flushed and stammered, "I mean, well, you almost always tell us about these weeks before. Why so last minute now?"

Mr. Coulson did not look happy. "You still have a few days, Rogers," he said. "If you're that worried, I suggest you find a study partner." Mr. Coulson went back to his lecture.

Steve looked miserable. He turned to Darcy. "Um, do you think you'd study with me?" he asked.

"Sure," Darcy said with a smile. Steve was nice and fun, and he wasn't a complete moron. She'd peaked at his previous test grades. In fact, Darcy would probably improve more by working with him than he would with her. It was a win-win situation. Well, so long as he could focus on studying than not staring at her.

At the end of class, they made plans to meet up after school. Steve grinned and said, "Thanks, this will be a big help."

Darcy grinned back and play-punched his shoulder. "You, too."

"So do you think-" Steve started to say, but Loki bumped into him just then. He cast a glance back at Steve, but didn't say anything and continued on his way out.

"Hey!" Darcy yelled after him. "Come back and apologize!"

"It's okay," Steve said, standing in her way. "It was an accident."

"Accident my ass," Darcy muttered. Oh, Loki was just even worse than she imagined. Rude, mean, overall an ass...

"So I'll see you later," Steve said.

"Oh! You were going to say something?"

But Steve shook his head and said it didn't matter. He would see her later.

TT

When chemistry rolled around, Darcy had been planning on telling Loki off. But she was tardy when she got there, because she'd missed the bell by talking to Jane in the hallway. Of course, this had also made Jane late to her next class, which had pissed Jane off, and she was so not going to talk to Darcy for the rest of the day.

She wasn't the only tardy student, either. Bruce came in just a minute after her, which was probably why Mr. Ross got so angry. He went on and on about respecting school rules and that being on time now meant that they set up a good habit that could get them promoted over others, and yada yada yada. In the end, he sent them to the principal's office for truant behavior. And alright, so Darcy did have a tendency for being late, but she always came. She was not truant.

Bruce was even worse, though. Sometimes, he didn't show up at all, and Darcy really didn't know why. The guy was a genius, and it was basically why she had snagged him as a lab partner at the start of the year. But every so often, she was forced to do a lab on her own, because Bruce hadn't come.

As they sat outside the principal's office, Brue glanced at her, face glum. "Sorry about the other day again," he said. His glasses were falling down and he pushed them up. "I didn't mean-"

Darcy waved her hand. It didn't matter. "It's not your fault, don't worry about it," she said. "Although I did have to throw that shirt away." There had just been no salvaging it. She was not putting mysterious chemicals in the washing machine and making her entire wardrobe smell of chemical puke.

Bruce still looked glum though.

"Hey, dude, what's up?" Darcy said with a small shove from her elbow. "Lighten up, it's just the principal's office." Darcy and the principal, Mr. Fury, got on great. Well, she liked to think so. He didn't find her so amusing, she was pretty sure. But she loved the guy. His eye patch was awesome.

Bruce shook his head. "It's not that," he said. "Although, if I screw up much more, I'm pretty sure they'll expel me."

Darcy frowned. "They can't expel you for just being late."

Bruce glanced at her but didn't say anything.

She chewed her lip. To be honest, she did like Bruce in a genuine way. She wasn't just using him for his brain. That helped her like him, of course, but he was nice, and he was always sufficiently sorry when he missed a lab.

"Look," she said at last, "if you ever need anyone to talk to, I'm an open ear, okay?" She put a hand over her heart. "Just consider me Dr. Darcy. I'm great at listening, and I don't charge a thing."

Bruce quirked a smile. "Thanks."

They didn't get a chance to talk anymore, because that was when Mr. Fury called them in. He gave them the same boring old lecture that Darcy hdad received a few times before, but when he was done, he dismissed Darcy and kept Bruce. As she left, she heard Mr fury say, "This is getting out of hand, Bruce. I think we need to look at our options here."

She stared at the closed door as if by doing that, she could hear what was going inside.

She wanted to stay and ambush Bruce on his ay out, but the warning bell rang, and she couldn't be late for her next class


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Here's chapter 4! I hope you like it, and please R&R! Lots of Steve in this one, and Loki and Darcy fight some more! I had lots of fun writing this one. :)

Sorry if updates get more sparse, school's started! I'll try to keep up, though.

TT

Chapter 4

Darcy met Steve in the library, as they had planned. Normally, there was football practice after school every day, Steve had mentioned earlier, but Coach Phillips had canceled all practice that week for some such and such reason. Darcy couldn't remember. It was something like surgery, either his or his mother's or something. Teacher problems didn't concern her.

She waved at Steve, but as she approached, she heard loud voices. Considering it was the library of all places, it was highly unusual, but when she saw Mr. Coulson and Tony Stark going at it, it was normal again. Tony Stark always was fighting with teachers.

Steve smiled at her, but he kept glancing over at Mr. Coulson and Tony.

Darcy glanced between Steve and the other two. "You want to get out of here?" she said. "This is supposed to be a learning environment, but I'm getting the antagonist vibe in the room."

Steve, frowning, nodded. "Yeah," he said. He glanced over his shoulder one last time as they left.

"Are you okay?" Darcy asked.

"Yeah," Steve said, and he smiled. To Darcy, though, it was way too forced.

They left the library and made their way to the parking lot. Steve had a car, and they could go to Darcy's house to study.

"Shit," Darcy said. She caught Steve's arm. "Hold on, I'll just be a minute. Forgot a book in my locker."

Steve said he'd go with her, so they rushed through the halls. Steve was able to easily keep up with Darcy's quick pace, damn those long legs.

But when she got to her locker, she saw Loki leaning against it. He was talking to one of his little buddies. Just great. Darcy set her shoulders back, took a breath, and marched up to her locker.

"You're in front of my locker," she said loudly. "Move it."

Loki, who had been laughing at whatever his friend had said, looked down at her. She saw recognition cross his face, and he smirked. "Not wearing your perfume today?" he said. "Pity."

Darcy refrained from punching him square in the face. "If you liked it so much, you should get some for yourself," she retorted. "It'll really suit your personality."

Loki's smirk twisted into a sneer. He glanced from Darcy to Steve and snorted. "Didn't know you liked them dim-witted, Rogers."

"Hey!" Darcy shoved Loki into the locker. "You got something to say, you say it to me!"

Steve reacted quickly, pulling Darcy back. "Hey, cool it," he said. "He's not worth it."

Loki's smirk was at least gone. He pushed himself up from the locker and straightened his sweater with a tug at the hem. "You should listen to him," he said. "I'm surprised someone as dumb as you can get such a smart boyfriend."

The bastard! Darcy didn't give a damn what Steve thought. She was going to deck Loki. But, to her surprise, Steve got there first. He pushed her back and got up in Loki's face. He was just shorter than Loki, but that didn't stop him from being menacing.

"Look, I don't know what your problem is," Steve said, and he was about an inch from Loki's face, "but you better back off right now. We'll leave you alone, you leave us alone."

"Yeah!" Darcy said with her fists raised. The two of them could take on Loki and his friend, no problem.

But Loki snorted, raising his chin so he could look down his nose at them. "Whatever," he muttered, and to his friend, he said, "Come on, Victor."

Darcy glared at their backs as they left. Steve laid a hand on her shoulder. "Just forget about him," he said. "Loki's trying to get you to react."

Darcy shrugged off Steve's hand. "I could have taken him you know," she said as she grabbed her textbook from her locker. She slammed the door shut. "I didn't need you to protect me." She crossed her arms in front of her over the book.

Steve's cheeks reddened, and he was doing that thing again, not looking at her breasts, which were only partially hidden.

"I know," Steve said with a shrug. "It was more to stop you. Fighting on school grounds is against the rules."

"Hey, you're the football star. You're the one who should be worried."

Again, Steve shrugged. Darcy was finding out that that was about as common a thing for Steve as not looking at her breasts was. "I wouldn't have fought back. You would."

They walked to Steve's car and climbed in. They continued talking as they drove to Darcy's place.

"What do you two have against each other anyway?" Steve asked.

Darcy indicated that he take the next right before replying. "I don't know, he's the one who laughed at me first. And now, he just keeps doing things to keep bothering me." She slumped in the seat. "He's a jerk."

Steve hummed and didn't respond.

Studying for the history test proved boring. It was almost more fun trying to get Steve to almost look at her chest, just because whenever he realized what he was doing, he would turn bright red and look away. He was way too nice, if a little awkward.

It got to the point where if Darcy had to list one more person blacklisted during the Red Scare, she'd scream. So she turned to Steve, her face set, and said, "Why do you always look at my chest?"

This time, even Steve's ears turned red. Now that was amusing. "What?" he stammered. "I don't- I mean, I'm- no, I- what?"

She stuck out her chest, looking down. "I mean, they are pretty nice, but you seem to be really interested in them."

Steve was looking very determinedly at the wall. "I don't know what you are talking about."

Darcy laughed. She decided to take pity on the poor boy. Teasing him was fun, but she felt a little bad about it. She tapped his shoulder with a notebook. "I think I've done all I can for today. I'll see you tomorrow?"

Steve looked confused for a moment. Then he said, "Oh, yeah, sure." He gathered up his books and pens.

Darcy showed him to the door. It had started raining while they were studying. Steve looked dismally at the sky.

"Hey, you want to borrow an umbrella?" Darcy asked, grabbing one from the stand.

Steve smiled at her and shook his head. "It's fine, it's just a little rain," he said.

"Fine, schmine," Darcy said, shoving the umbrella at him. "You can give it back tomorrow."

Steve took the umbrella awkwardly. He raised it up and said, "Thanks, Darcy. And thanks for studying with me."

She patted his shoulder. "Trust me what I say I've got the better end of the deal."

Steve smiled, and she returned it. They stood there awkwardly for a moment. At last, Darcy waved her hands to the door.

"Oh, right," Steve said, his cheeks coloring slightly. He ducked out the door, opening the umbrella. "See you tomorrow!" He ran to his car and climbed in. Darcy waved until the car was out of sight.

She slowly went back up to her room. The day had proved surprisingly exhausting. She just wanted to collapse on her bed, but there was chem homework she needed to finish, which really wasn't fair, since she only had it because Mr. Ross had made her miss class.

Her phone buzzed at her. It was a message from Jane.\

"Come over," she had written. "At Thor's. Loki's here."

Darcy frowned and sent back, "Yeah, right, no thanks." She turned off her phone and tossed it aside.

Jane was so wrong. There was no way she liked Loki. She would rather date Steve than date Loki.

She turned on her iPod and fell asleep with the entire thing on shuffle


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: At last, the next chapter! School's been crazy, sorry! Well, I'll just let you get to the chapter.

I really appreciate any feedback, so please, let me know what you think!

oo

Chapter 5

First period on Tuesdays and Thursdays was PE. Darcy sucked at PE. She could throw a mean ball, but it didn't matter how strong it was if she couldn't aim it. Instead of throwing it into someone's hands, it hit their shoulder or their stomach or their legs.

"Sorry!" she shouted at Sam. He rubbed his elbow, grumbling to himself.

Ms. Hill blew on her whistle. "What have I told you about hitting people, Lewis?" she said. "Twenty laps!"

Darcy rolled her eyes, but she started slowly jogging around the gym. She kept an eye for stray balls and whenever Ms. Hill was looking away. Whenever she turned her head. Darcy dropped to a walk.

"He's a dick, anyway," she heard someone say. "Ignore him."

"Yeah, right, Nat," someone else said. "He's not staring at you all the fucking time."

"Maybe that's what he wants."

"Don't even kid. Loki's a creep."

Darcy turned her head to see Clint Barton and Natasha Romanoff. Sadly, Natasha didn't have a cool Russian accent to go with her name. They were passing the basketball to one another only a few feet apart, quick, short, chest passes.

Clint and Natasha were inseparable. They were the kind of couple where they were one unit; you were friends with both or neither.

On her next lap around the gym, Darcy stopped by them. She glanced behind her; Ms. Hill was looking away.

"Hey, guys!" she said with a wave.

Natasha rose an eyebrow, and Clint rose both of his, but they didn't say anything. Rude.

"So I heard you're having trouble with Loki?" she said, pushing on.

"What's it to you?" Clint said. Natasha shot him a look, and he shrugged.

Darcy placed her hands on her hips with a smirk. "I've got my own vendetta against him. If you wanted, I could let you in on it. A way to get back at Loki. Or in your case, get him off your back."

"Humiliate him or something?" Natasha said.

Darcy shrugged. "Or something. I haven't worked out the details yet." But if she had people to help, she could do something epic.

Clint and Natasha looked at each other again. God. Darcy was jealous they could communicate like that. There was no way she'd ever be close enough to someone to just look at them and have an entire conversation.

Unfortunately, Clint and Natasha shook their heads. "Count us out," Clint said. "He might be a creep, but that's his issue, not ours."

Darcy frowned. "You don't-"

"Lewis!" Ms. Hill yelled from behind her. "In my office! Now!"

Clint and Natasha smirked at each other as Darcy walked away to get yelled at again. She really should have been able to pot out of PE as a senior. This was cruel and unusual punishment.

oo

In history, Steve waved her over when she entered. He grinned at her, though a little bashfully. "Hey," he said.

"Hey," Darcy said and slid into her desk next to him.

"Sorry I forgot your umbrella. I'll bring it to you tomorrow?"

Darcy waved her hand in the air. "Yeah, that'll be fine, don't worry about it."

She took out her books and stacked them on her desk as Steve kept talking.

"So," he said, "uh, I was hoping we could do some more studying after school today?" He looked hopefully at Darcy.

She didn't really want to; she had been hoping to bully Jane into going to the mall with her for some window shopping. But Steve looked at her half-pleadingly, and studying with him really would improve her grade. So she smiled and said, "Sure, why not? Library?"

Steve nodded, his grin much more genuine now. "Thanks a lot, Darcy. You're a life saver."

She pretended to brush off some dust from her shirt. "I know," she said with a smirk. That made Steve laugh. She would have said something more, but Mr. Coulson cleared his throat and told them to be quiet. The bell hadn't even rung yet, but everyone fell silent and Mr. Coulson began his lecture.

Darcy glanced over to look at the clock, and she saw Loki glaring at her. Jesus, what was his problem? She very casually brought her hand up to her forehead and scratched at a pretend itch in her hairline with only her middle finger.

Loki's cheeks reddened, and he looked away.

What a jerk.

oo

"Thor's throwing a party this weekend," Jane said as they ate lunch together. "You should come."

Darcy shrugged. "I don't know," she said. "It'll all just be the football guys and their dates and stuff, right?" Darcy shook her head. "Boooring."

"Hey, I'll be there."

"And making out with Thor endlessly."

Jane frowned, but she didn't challenge what Darcy said. Darcy swirled a fry in her ketchup. She was feeling tired all of a sudden. And Loki had glared at her on and off all during class! What was that guy's problem.

"He's such an asshole," she muttered.

"What?" Jane said.

Darcy sighed. "Loki."

Jane pushed her for what happened, but Darcy didn't feel like explaining, so Jane dropped it.

oo

Chemistry went well, at least. Loki was too occupied with his own lab to be glaring at her the whole time, and Bruce didn't arrive late. He smiled shyly at her, and they got to work.

Darcy bumped his shoulder casually at one point. "So, you okay, dude?"

Bruce looked at her with wide eyes for a moment. "Yes, I'm fine," he said with a smile.

Darcy nodded. "Good," she said. "Good."

Partway through the lab, she caught Bruce staring at Tony. She leaned over to whisper to Bruce, "So do you like him?"

"What?" Bruce looked at her shocked.

Darcy smiled and patted his shoulder. "Never mind," she said. "We'll talk later." And she gave him a wink.

Bruce totally dug Tony. And Bruce was such a sweetheart that Darcy decided she was going to help him all she could. She glanced up at Tony, who was letting his friend, Pepper, do the experiment while he scribbled away on a piece of paper. Of course, she didn't know if Tony was at all interested, and she didn't want Bruce's heart to be broken.

This was going to take some research.

oo

Darcy was so happy the day was almost over when she met Steve in the library. Steve seemed happy to see her, and that made Darcy feel really good. She liked when people were happy to see her.

They set up in a corner of the library and began studying, which proved to be pretty boring.

"I don't care!" Darcy finally said when Steve asked her AGAIN to name several significant consequences of the Kennedy assassination. "That was like, forever ago."

Steve frowned at her. "Our history's important, Darcy."

She pouted. "I just want to get through this class." She played with her eraser. "Jesus, I should have just gone shopping."

That made Steve look worried. "Did I take you from something important?"

Darcy sighed. "No, I..." She felt bad all of a sudden. Steve had wanted to study with her, and he didn't need to. His grades were so much better than hers, and she was being a little ungrateful. She shook her head. "It's nothing. Can you repeat the question?"

Steve glanced down at the book, chewing his lip, and then put it aside. "Hey, Darcy... I was wondering... were you going to Thor's party this weekend?"

Darcy raised an eyebrow. "Umm... why?"

Steve's cheeks reddened. "Well, it's just, the other guys all have someone to go with, and I don't. And I mean, you're friends with Jane, and so I thought, you know, you might be going anyway, and if you were, well, maybe we could, um... go together?"

Darcy just stared at him. Steve looked so awkward and lost, and from his expression, he was probably regretting even asking her. The silence lengthened and Steve started to say, "You know what-" just as Darcy said, "Sure."

He looked at her surprised. "Really?"

Darcy shrugged a shoulder. "Why not? If you promise to actually talk to me and not swan off to go make out with some chick." She held up a finger. "Just to make things clear, though, we're going just as friends. Okay?"

Steve's face broke into a smile. "That sounds great."

They returned to studying, and as they worked, Darcy asked herself what the hell she had just agreed to.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Sorry it's been a long time! I want to thank everyone who commented! I really appreciate knowing what people think! I hope people enjoy this chapter!

oo

Chapter 6

Friday morning meant that surprise history exam was upon them. As Darcy took her seat, Steve gave her a smile and a whispered, "Good luck." As she returned the smile, she glanced over Steve's shoulder at Loki, who, for once this week, was not paying her any attention at all.

Darcy felt... well, she wasn't sure what she felt. Relieved, she supposed.

And then Mr. Coulson passed out the exams, and Darcy didn't spare one extra thought about Loki.

oo

"I failed, I know I did," Darcy lamented at lunch. And lunch today was with the whole football team. Jane shook her head as much as she could with Thor's arm slung around her shoulders. Darcy thought it looked uncomfortable, how they were practically in each other's laps, but neither Jane nor Thor seemed to mind.

"You didn't fail, I'm sure," Jane said. "Weren't you studying with Steve?"

At the mention of Steve, Volstagg, seated next to Darcy, said, "What about Steve now?" He waved a couple people down, cutting into a conversation Steve was having with Hogun. "Steve, Darcy wants you!"

"No, no, I don't!" Darcy said, but the team was already doing the routine place shuffle. In a moment, Darcy found a somewhat confused Steve grinning down at her. Darcy groaned and placed her head in her hands.

"Is something wrong?" Steve asked.

"No," Darcy said quickly, "nothing at all."

She saw Jane smirk at her. "You know," Jane said, "Darcy was just talking about how well you two study together. She's sure she passed all thanks to you."

Steve chuckled. "Well, I'm sure I got more help out of it than her."

Darcy wanted to snap at Steve that that wasn't true, and being all humble about it wouldn't get him anywhere. But the problem was that he was likely (mostly) genuine. And, if Darcy was absolutely, one hundred percent honest with herself, it was a little endearing.

Jane said, "Darcy's been frantic about it." Jane shook her head thoughtfully. "Only just less than the problem she has with Lo-"

"Well, if Coulson would stop dropping exams on us with no warning, maybe I'd have a reason to freak out a little less," Darcy said, cutting in. She did not want to bring Loki up in front of Steve. She didn't want him thinking she was somehow obsessed with Loki or something, or that she hadn't let the locker incident go. (She hadn't let it go, but that was really none of his business.)

:That's not really fair," Steve said with a small frown. "It only covered what we've been learning the past month."

"So?" Darcy shrugged and popped a fry into her mouth. "It wasn't on the syllabus. I think that should be illegal or something. Bet you it is in college."

"He's the teacher; he does what he thinks is best."

"Or he's vindictive," Darcy muttered.

Steve's frown grew, and he looked like he was about to respond to that, but Jane had latched on to the idea of college. She started talking to Steve about where he was applying, and Darcy tuned out the conversation, neither interested nor wanting to seriously think about college.

She still had to think about it to some degree; she was a senior. But she didn't really have to think about it until January or so, which was much too far away.

Darcy ate her fries slowly and was almost glad when the bell rang.

oo

"So, Bruce," Darcy said. She said it casually, still taking notes of what Bruce was doing as he mixed two substances that were, unfortunately, not going to go bang, only coagulate. "What do you think of Tony?"

"Tony?" She saw him glance across the room where Tony was working with Rhodey. "He's fine... Why do you ask?"

She shrugged. "Thought you liked him, that's all."

Bruce started coughing and almost knocked into the suspended test tube. Darcy quickly shoved herself away from the desk; she did not want a repeat of earlier that week.

But Bruce managed to not hit it and send it flying all over Darcy. "I really don't know what you're talking about," he said, very determinedly looking away from her.

Darcy smiled to herself. Oh, yes, that confirmed it. Bruce was definitely crushing on Tony.

"All joking aside, if you ever want to talk, my offer still stands."

Bruce met Darcy's eyes slowly. "Thanks," he said with a smile. "Now, let's finish this, shall we?"

"If we must." Darcy rolled her eyes and pushed up her glasses. She glanced at the clock, a little anxious for the week to be over, when she caught sight of Loki. He looked like he was ready to fall asleep, he looked so exhausted. For a brief moment, Darcy wondered why. But she pushed the thought away. Loki's well-being was no concern of hers. And he was making his partner do all the work, too! Amora, Darcy thought her name was, and she certainly did not look happy with Loki.

When class ended, Tony was the first to fly out of the room. Bruce, being a good student, lingered to help clean up several abandoned stations, but he didn't ask Darcy to help. She was thankful for that. She didn't really want to help, but would have if he asked.

When she left the room, she almost ran straight into a tall solid back. "Sorry!" she said. Her eyes met Loki's, who still looked exhausted, but mean, too.

"What do you want?" he snapped.

Darcy stared at him wide-eyed for a moment. "What?"

He growled at her. "What do you want?" he repeated, this time with even more aggression behind his words.

"Nothing!" She glared up at him, shoving a finger at his chest. "I just apologized for bumping into you, and now you're actually mad at me? You are unbelievable!"

She tried to step around him, but Loki grabbed her arm. "Ow!" she said. Loki's grip loosened but he didn't take his hand off her. "Get off, jerk!"

"Darcy?" She glanced over to see Steve standing there. His face looked confused for a moment before he saw Loki's hand on her arm. Then his face drew fierce. "Let go of her, Loki," he said.

Loki glared at Steve for a long moment and then abruptly let go of Darcy. "Watch where you're going," he growled at Darcy before turning sharply on his heel and leaving.

Darcy rubbed at her arm. It hadn't actually hurt, just mostly took her by surprise. But man, he was an asshole!

Steve touched her lightly on the shoulder. "Are you okay?" he said.

"Yeah," Darcy said with a shrug. "I don't know what his deal is, I don't even want to think about him." She looked up at Steve then, frowning. "What are you doing here, anyway? School's out."

Steve flushed slightly, but he smiled. "Just wanted to see if I could catch you before you left. To ask about the party tomorrow, when I should pick you up?"

Darcy shook her head. "You don't have to pick me up, we're going as friends, right?" But Steve's face fell a little at that, so Darcy sighed and said, "Okay, how about seven, then?"

Steve agreed and after asking if she was okay again ("Yes, I'm fine, he's just a jackass," Darcy assured him), he left with a little wave.

Darcy sighed. It had been a trying week, but she was glad it was pretty much over. She glanced behind her and was surprised to see Bruce standing at the sink, but watching her. Without a wave or even a smile, she bolted from the doorway and headed down the hall, her face red.

She was going to go to sleep as soon as she got home.


End file.
